Download Endocrine System Webquest - Biology with Mrs. Jennings

Name_________________ Period ____
Endocrine System Webquest
Visit the following sites to answer the questions below.
Site # 1 - What Is the Endocrine System?
http://kidshealth.org/teen/your_body/body_basics/endocrine.html
Questions
1. What are the functions of the endocrine system? ____________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________
2. What are hormones and what is their function? _____________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________
3. What is a gland? Give an example. _______________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________
4. How are exocrine glands different than endocrine glands? _____________________________
____________________________________________________________________________
7. Site # 2 – Parts of the Endocrine System: Label the major parts of the Endocrine System
http://kidshealth.org/parent/general/body_basics/endocrine.html# Page 2
1. Label the following 8 Endocrine glands
Site # 3 – Gland Specifics – Structure and Function
http://kidshealth.org/parent/general/body_basics/endocrine.html#
Questions:
8. The ____________________________________________, a collection of specialized cells
that is located in the lower central part of the brain, is the primary link between the endocrine
and nervous systems.
9. Which gland is called the “master gland”? Explain why it is given this name.
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
10. List the hormones (and their jobs) that are produced by the pituitary gland:
a. Anterior Lobe:
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
b. Posterior Lobe:
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
11. What are thyroid hormones responsible for?
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
12. What do parathyroids regulate in the blood?
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
13. Where are adrenal glands located in the body?_____________________________________
Site # 4 – Test Yourself: Use the info in this page to complete the chart.
Hint - Use the Drag and Drop Matching at the bottom of the page to aid you in your quest.
http://www.abpischools.org.uk/page/modules/hormones/horm2.cfm?coSiteNavi
gation_allTopic=1
14. Contrast the 2 parts of the adrenal glands:
Endocrine Gland Where in the body
Hormone produced
Pituitary
Testis
Ovary
Pancreas
Adrenal
Thyroid
15. Differentiate between the female and male gonads. List their functions, locations and which
hormones they produce.
Female
Male
16. Which endocrine gland starts off the process of puberty? ________________________
17. Which two hormones, produced by this gland, stimulate the production of sex hormones?
_____________________________________________________________
18. What hormone is produced in the testes? ____________________________________
19. Advance through pages 3- 10, answering the questions at the bottom of each page and checking your
answers.
a. Be sure to play the animation showing the menstrual cycle when you get to it and pay
particular attention to the hormones involved. This is an excellent example of how multiple
hormones can influence each other and control a major biological process like menstruation. It
is often used as a question topic.
Site # 5 – Gland Specifics – Structure and Function
http://kidshealth.org/parent/general/body_basics/endocrine.html#
20. What are the 2 major hormones produced by the pancreas? What are their roles in the body?
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
21. Once a hormone is secreted, how does it get to its target cells?
_______________________________________________________________________
Site #6: Signal Transduction and the Endocrine System
Use the information in the link below to answer the following questions:
Link:
http://www.wiley.com/college/boyer/0470003790/animations/signal_transduction/signal_trans
duction.htm
a. What is signal transduction?
b. What is the purpose of the body’s use of signal transduction?
c. What is unique about hormones that are used in the signaling process?
d. The goal is for the signal sent from a gland to be transferred across the cell membrane.
i. What problem arises in the process of transmitting this signal to the inside of a
cell?
ii. What then acts to “transduce” the signal? (The word “transduce” means to
convert)
e. What is meant by a signal cascade?
f. If a bear was chasing you, what gland would you hope was working properly?
i. What is the function of epinephrine?
g. What important molecule is part of (attached to) a cAMP molecule? (hint: when
running from a bear, your legs would not move without this molecule)
h. What is the purpose of kinases?
i.
What is the result of the signal transduction cascade started by the enzyme kinase A?
j.
What is the purpose of an inhibitor receptor?
k. What is signal transduction amplification?
The Hypothalmic-Pituitary-Endocrine Axis and Positive and Negative Feedback Loops
Go to Site #7: Use the information in the following link to answer the questions below.
Link: http://highered.mcgrawhill.com/sites/9834092339/student_view0/chapter46/positive_and_negative_feedback.html
l.
What is the difference between negative and positive feedback? Hint: Read the text
above the animation!
m. In the animation, what hormone stimulates the release of GnHR and LH?
n. Explain why the interaction between estrogen, GnHR and LH prior to ovulation is
considered to be a positive feedback loop (effect)? Hint: review the definitions of
positive feedback loops.
o. After ovulation, what hormone is released in response to increased levels of LH?
p. Explain why the interaction between progesterone, GnHR and LH after ovulation is
considered a negative feedback loop (effect)? Hint: review the definitions of negative
feedback loops.
Site #8: Go to http://bcs.whfreeman.com/pol1e/#787195__789539__
And answer the questions below:
q. Which gland is the link between the nervous system and the endocrine system?
r. When I think of the interplay between the hypothalamus and the pituitary gland, it
reminds me of The Wizard of Oz in the scene below:
i. Place the words hypothalamus and pituitary in the correct boxes below:
ii. Why did you answer the way you did in the pictures above?
s. How is the pituitary gland like the substance below:
t. What two hormones are produced from the neurons that extend into the posterior
pituitary?
u. What allows oxytocin and antidiutetic hormone (ADH) to be able to be released into the
bloodstream?
v. Why is ADH known as a vasopressin (“vaso” = refers to blood vessel)?
w. What is contained in the anterior pituitary?
x. The hormones listed above are produced by the neurons in the posterior pituitary.
How are hormones released from the cells in the anterior pituitary?
y. Complete the following table:
Releasing
Hormone
TRH
Tropic
Hormone
Gland effected
Physiologic Response/Purpose
Thyroid
FSH and LH
Prolactin
Release/Inhibit
Hormone
Release of estrogen in females
and testosterone in males; gamete
production; egg release and
production of testosterone
Mammary
glands
GH
Throughout
body
ACTH
Release of cortisol to increase
levels of glucose in the blood
during times of stress
MSH
Release of melatonin in the dark
(responds to seasonal changes)
j) Using the Negative Feedback Loops animation, answer the following questions:
a. What chain reaction of hormones occurs to cause the adrenal cortex to
secrete cortisol (as a result of a stress response)?
b. What crucial physical connection exists that allows the production of cortisol
to not continue out of control? Also, describe the process.
Hormone to Gland matching: Challenging!
Site #9: Go to http://www.zerobio.com/drag_oa/endo.htm
(GnRH)=Gonadotropin-releasing hormone
Copy the matching gland and hormone below:
The Role of Endocrinologist
Each of the scenarios below presents a different medical situation. With your knowledge of the
endocrine system, identify the root cause of the medical condition.
1. A 15 year old boy who still displays all the physical characteristics of boys 4-5 years younger than him and has not
begun to show any developmental changes indicating he is entering manhood.
Hormone(s):
Gland where produced:
2. Parents of a 5 year old girl are told by doctors that the reasons for the girl’s chronic illnesses are a weak immune
system and low T-lymphocyte count.
Hormone(s):
Gland where produced:
3. A patient comes into the ER complaining of a dizzy feeling. Doctors notice the patient has extremely low blood-sugar
levels. Further testing reveals that the patient has a hypersecretion of ___ which is causing the problem so they
prescribe and administer doses of the hormone ___ to counteract the body’s hypersecretion.
Hormone(s):
Gland where produced:
4. A woman in her mid-20’s has been having trouble falling asleep. Tests reveal that she has low levels of the hormone
___.
Hormone(s):
Gland where produced:
5. A woman brings her child into the doctor to determine the cause of the child’s small stature and extremely slow
growth rate. There is no hereditary history of dwarfism in the family.
Hormone(s):
Gland where produced: